Lyon vs Brest

Groupama Stadium sets the stage for a high-stakes Ligue 1 clash between European hopefuls Lyon and Brest.

Lyon suffered a 3-2 home loss to runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain last weekend after netting precisely four goals in back-to-back league wins against Montpellier and Reims. That marked their fourth defeat in nine Ligue 1 outings (W3, D2) – as many defeats as in their previous 24 league matches (W15, D5). As a result, they commenced this round five points below the top four and must regroup quickly to stay in contention for a coveted Champions League qualification. Brest’s upcoming visit bodes well for Les Gones’ bid to return to the win column, considering the visitors are the only current top-flight side they’ve never lost at home against in Ligue 1 (W8, D4).

Meanwhile, February couldn’t have ended soon enough for Brest as they only won two of their eight competitive matches last month (D2, L5). Indeed, in addition to an embarrassing 10-0 aggregate loss to PSG in the Champions League knockout playoffs, Brest bowed out of the Coupe de France to second-tier Dunkerque in the build-up to this fixture. However, if they can pull off a historic win at the Groupama Stadium, the visitors would draw level on points with Lyon and keep their hopes of securing a second consecutive top-four finish alive. Confidence comes from Brest’s promising run of just one defeat from their last seven league games (W4, D2), though both draws came in their two most recent such contests.